‘My love affair with lead has ended’
It has been three weeks since the start of the roebuck season. Believe me when I say even Christmas has got nothing on this magical time of year. However, this is no ordinary season for me. This time around, I have decided to go lead-free, an uncharted territory filled with fear, trepidation and hope. I pull up in my pickup truck near my favourite forestry block in Tarset, Northumberland. It is a mixture of mature and young conifer plantation. Some 10 miles to the north lies the Scottish border. Sporadic yet continuous pine plantations are home to this special upland roe; genetically unique, its light construction, abrasive pearlings and straight-up antlers identify it as
“The smell of pine on its antlers gives away the postcode”
North East roe. The smell of pine on its antlers gives away the
